Principles of classification

Key words and expressions:

air stream, obstruction, mouth cavity, nasal cavity, the production of consonant sounds, degree of noise, basic shape, manner of articulation, place of articulation

Consonants are made with air stream that meets an obstruction in the mouth or nasal cavities. That is why in the production of consonant sounds there is a certain degree of noise.

Consonants are the bones of a word and give it its basic shape. English accents differ mainly in vowels, the consonants are more or less the same wherever English is spoken.

The sentence "W-ll y-- -nv-t- m- t- th- p--t-?" "Will you invite me to the party?" is easy for understanding even if all the vowel letters would be left out. But if we leave all the consonant letters out :

"-i-- -ou i—i-e -e -o --e -a--y" it is impossible to make any sense out of it. Thus we see that there are good reasons for be­ginning the course of pronunciation with consonants.

On the articulatory level the consonants change:

1. In the degree of noise.

2. In the manner of articulation.

3. In the place of articulation.

CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS ON THE DEGREE OF NOISE

Key words and expressions:

noise consonants, noise component, voiceless, voiced, word position, partly devoiced,strong noise consonants, breath effort, weak noise conso­nants, tone

According to the degree of noise English and Ukrainian consonants are divided into two big classes:

Class A. Noise consonants.

Class B. Sonorants.

1. Noise consonants. In the production of noise consonants there is a

noise component characteristic. Noise consonant sounds vary:

1. in the work of the vocal cords;

2. in the degree of force of articulation.

According to the work of the vocal cords they may be voiceless and voiced.

When the vocal cords are brought together and vibrate we hear voice.

Voiced consonants are: the English , , , , , , , in Ukrainian [ б, б',в, в', г, г', д, д', ж, з, з'].

If the vocal cords are apart and do not vibrate we hear only noise and the consonants are voiceless.

Table 1

Main Principles of Classification of Consonants

According to the Degree of Noise
Class A. Noise Consonants	Class В. Sonorants
Vary: 1 .In the manner of articulation. 2. In the place of articulation. 3. In the work of the vocal cords. In the force of articulation.	Vary: 1 . In the manner of articulation. 2. In the place of articulation. 3.In the position of the soft palate. 4. In the direction of the air stream.

Voiceless consonants are: the English , , , , , , , ,

; the Ukrainian [п, п', ф, ф', к, к', т, т', ш, ш', ч', ц, х, х'].

Voiced consonants are not fully voiced in all word positions, in word final position, for example, they arepartly devoiced.

The degree of noise may vary because of the force of articula­tion. Strong noise consonants are produced with more mus­cular energy and stronger breath effort. Weak noise conso­nants are produced with a relatively weak breath effort.

Strong noise consonants are: the English [p, t, k, f, θ, s, ∫, h, t∫].

Table 2